Alice Christina-Corrigan talks Past Life

Writer and performer Alice Christina-Corrigan tells us about her debut play Past Life, presented with Extant in the Bloomsbury Festival 2022.

Tell us a bit about your show

Past Life is a multi sensory and creatively accessible one person show questioning the normalisation of sexual assault in relationships. We follow Kiera as she delves back into a diary she kept when going through a breakup, which ultimately, takes her way further down the rabbit hole than she first anticipated. The show is accompanied by a dynamic sound score, creative captioning, integrated audio description and BSLI to evoke a unique and hard hitting way of telling a vital story.

Tell us a bit about you and the company

I am a visually impaired actor, theatre maker, Past Life is my debut play and within all my work, I aim to question and challenge the technological boundaries of creative access in theatre, whilst simultaneously creating shows that can help tell stories that can bring communities together. This production is produced in association with Extant, a theatre company putting visually impaired and blind narratives at the forefront. This co-production has been amazing and I am one of the associate artists of Extant this year which has given me a chance to continue to work on intertwining access, fleshing out the story and enhancing the production to a new level.

What’s your favourite moment in the performance?

As the performer, my favourite moment is when the music, captioning and acting all line up perfectly and work together to tell the story, for instance, there are two major moments in the piece (no spoilers!) where I feel the world all combine together to create a visceral reaction with the audience and to me- that is the most exciting part.

What do you want your audience to take away from it?

The play tackles hard to talk about subjects, I want the audience to leave feeling heard, feeling united and to have their feelings validated.

What does taking part in the Bloomsbury Festival mean to you?

Taking part in this festival is such an exciting opportunity, getting to work with Extant has seen the show grow so much and the festival champions so many unique voices that I am utterly thrilled to be one of them.

Is there anything else you’re looking forward to seeing in the festival?

There is SO much on that I am excited about! The Hippie Shakes sounds like an incredible piece I’m hoping to catch as well as the Rest in Protest and the 26 Inspirations exhibitions. One of the beautiful things about this festival is the sheer amount of compelling and different art genres all coming together for a unique program of work.

Past Life is presented on 16 October at RADA studios, London, as part of the Bloomsbury Festival 2022 bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/events/past-life